WANA (Sep 19) – Russia’s representative to international organizations in Vienna strongly criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for failing to condemn the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

 

In a statement delivered at the IAEA General Conference, Mikhail Ulyanov noted that nearly three months have passed since the attacks, yet the agency has still not managed to denounce them “in a clear, unambiguous, and above all, collective manner.”

 

He stressed that attacks on nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards constitute “a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, the IAEA Statute, and international law” and therefore should be met with “the broadest possible condemnation.”

 

Ulyanov pointed out that since the attacks, the IAEA Board of Governors has convened twice but failed to issue any collective response, which he attributed to opposition from Western countries.

 

The senior Russian diplomat also criticized Western double standards, contrasting the silence over Iran with repeated Western statements on Ukraine. He recalled that for the past three and a half years, European countries have consistently said that “nuclear facilities must not come under attack.” But, he argued, after the targeted strikes by the U.S. and Israel on Iran’s nuclear facilities, “it seems European countries have forgotten their principles.”

 

Describing the situation as “an extremely dangerous phenomenon,” Ulyanov warned of the risks of future attacks against any country that places its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards. The statement read:

“We are facing a very dangerous trend. Forty years ago, facilities in Iraq were attacked; over the past three years, Russia’s nuclear power plants have been targeted; today, Iran is under attack; and ten years from now, any other country that develops a nuclear program and places its facilities under IAEA safeguards could become a target—despite expecting that the international legal framework would protect its rights.”

 

Ulyanov added: “And if what happened to Iran is repeated—and the United States and Israel openly acknowledge such a scenario is possible—the blame will lie with those who abused international law: those who invoked global norms when it suited their purposes, and completely abandoned them when it did not.”

 

He underlined that Russia always has opposed, and will continue to oppose, any attack on nuclear facilities, especially those under IAEA supervision. He insisted that the agency must issue a collective response to the June attacks on Iran, warning that failure to do so would undermine both the credibility of the IAEA and its ability to meet the challenges of its mandate.

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Arak nuclear facility after U.S. strike. Social media/ WANA News Agency